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Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Summer began in
Anchorage...

…Summer Continued -

From Chugach to North Cascades

National Park – Part 2

Matt Seats

When we last chatted, my Wilderness Leadership class had just
been relieved of most of our remaining food. We didn’t know it yet though. We had
heli-dropped plenty of food for our last eight days in the Chugach Wilderness weeks earlier.

We left Whiteout Pass one sunny morning, skiing and hiking to our final hut in Alaska. When we arrived, we were greeted by a heart-dropping sight. Nearly all of the glorious food we had been dreaming of as we
crossed the tundra was strewn across the ground, ravaged by a Yeti, or a polar
bear…or probably ravens.

Well prepared for dealing with adversity and uncertainty, we sprang to action and sorted
what was left of our eight day ration. We figured out calories, and days, and revised our meal plans based on what we could find. Everyone
pulled together and what could have been severe food stress became a reason to pull together. We still don’t
talk about our “garbage soup” incident with folks who weren't there though.

A week later we began our hike back to civilization. Appropriately enough, one of our final obstacles was the Raven
Headwall. After finishing the long, down-climbing snow descent, we skied for
about a mile downhill through a whiteout. Skiing through a cloud is an
experience that must be experienced to be appreciated. Soon we were leaving the
Alaskan outback, and preparing for a month in Washington. There we would begin our climbing
expedition at Eldorado Peak and Boston Basin – whose bathrooms offer the best
views in the world!

Friday, October 25, 2013

I can’t believe it is already my fourth and final year at
Prescott College. I came here as a wide-eyed 18 year old knowing I was here to
study the environment because it was fascinating, and knowing little more about
it. Looking back and becoming nostalgic about my experiences here, I’ve decided
to post about just one amazing opportunity I had through school. During my
second year here at Prescott College, I applied for a CIEL exchange semester at
New College of Florida. It’s always hard to leave friends and community in
Prescott, but I saw the CIEL exchange program as an opportunity I couldn’t pass
up. I couldn’t believe it when I looked at the extensive list of schools I
could go to for a semester. It was hard to pick just one, but I settled on New
College of Florida for an adventure in an entirely different ecosystem.

This experience began with a cross country road trip from AZ
to FL with two friends, a big pot of pasta salad, and a ’95 Honda accord.
Seeing the dramatic landscapes across the west and the gradual change to
subtropical forest gave me a true understanding of the multitude of ecosystems
in the southern US. After a long and epic journey we arrived in beautiful
Sarasota, Florida, and jumped straight into the ocean.

I instantly met a few other students on CIEL exchanges from
schools around the US. It seemed that each person in the exchange felt pride
about their school, but needed to escape for a semester (an issue I didn’t have
since I’d already spent a semester in Kino and both blocks in the field), and
we all immediately bonded. The coolest class I took in Florida was called
Eumycetozoans, or slime molds, in which we surveyed a maritime forest. If you
don’t know what slime molds are look them up! They are amazing organisms!

I decided to stay for the summer before returning west, and got
two internships in town. The first was working as a beach bird monitor for
Audubon Society. I was given training on how to spot nests, chicks, and to put
up signs in the area to educate beach-goers about these threatened
species. My species of interest were
snowy plovers, black skimmers, and least terns. I also had an internship with
Sierra Club working on a Clean Water Campaign. I organized a Water Sentinels
program in which I trained local volunteers in checking the water quality of
water bodies in their neighborhoods.

In August I returned to Prescott and to the friends I had
missed. I recommend a CIEL exchange to everyone because there are adventures to
be had everywhere, especially if you can get credit for them!

I came into
Prescott College right after High School, and was intrigued by the Cultural and
Regional Studies Program, hoping to travel. The first opportunity to travel
however, besides an amazing orientation, was to Kino Bay, which brought me into
the Environmental Studies Program. The
semester-long Marine Biology course re-sparked my love of the outdoors and
particularly the ocean. It also just got me stoked on learning (high school had
turned me off). I felt like a nerd and loved it. My newfound inspiration about
learning led me to spend the next year on campus in Prescott taking Education
courses. This also provided me some amazing experiences and opportunities, but
by the end I was ready to go back to the beach. Only with ample encouragement
from my mom, did I sign up for a class on activism for the block. I had wanted
to just keep up my summer traveling until the Marine Conservation course was
going to start, but I decided to trust my mom and do something I was not
familiar with...Mamma knows best.

The block course
that I took focused on the DREAM act Campaign, where eight young people walked
across the country promoting the act and sharing their stories about growing up
in the U.S. either with family members who were undocumented or being
undocumented themselves. Our class joined the walkers for four days out of
their nine month journey. It was so inspiring and motivating to hear their
stories first-hand and get a taste of what it was like to be so dedicated
something so important. This class stoked my fire for learning again. I rode
this wave of motivation back down to Kino and all through the Marine
Conservation semester, and realized how much being excited about something
helps you to learn it. Similar to my block class, this course focused on
getting involved with projects already underway. However, we also created new
projects. Being able to contribute to community organizing that was already in
action, and being part of the creation process was so empowering. I was not
only getting knowledge, but also experience in what it would actually be like
to work in the conservation field. I was not only enjoying and learning from
this awesome place, but also giving back to it. I didn’t think any other course
I would take could compare…Until I did the Tucson Social Justice Education
Semester. Leaving Kino was hard, but I knew my next semester would be good because
it was taught by the same wonderful professor that taught my previous block
class (the DREAM act one).

Going into this
course I didn’t know what to expect. I had also never been to Tucson before,
which made it even more exciting. I soon realized that the reason we went to
Tucson was because it has a much more diverse population, and the injustices in
schools, and in all aspects of life for that matter, are much clearer. For this
reason, it also has a lot more going on in terms of activism. We got to work
with youth-run organizations, well-known activists and authors, and dedicated
community members. The course was centered on the former Mexican American
Studies (MAS) Program of the Tucson School District and its completely unjust
removal. The MAS Program, based in a place with a majority population f Mexican
Americans, gave voice to their previously silenced history and culture. It
proved to not only increase the students test scores, graduation rates, and
college attendance rates, but also the student’s self-esteem, autonomy, and self-motivation.
Not to mention how much it changed the student’s attitudes about learning. For
example, when the program was cut, one of the teachers offered his class on
Sundays in the community center, and all of his students came to learn in their
free time!

Throughout the
semester, we worked with those students a lot, helping them with projects and
events they put together, exemplifying their self-determination and passion for
community organizing. We contributed to
many groups and organizations directly and indirectly relating to the MAS
program, such as Scholarship AZ, which helps undocumented citizens (usually
students who grew up in the US) get scholarships to college. We also worked
with a youth center that provided a safe space for youth of the city to come
after school and get involved in activities such as dancing, arts and crafts,
and martial arts. This organization also encouraged youth to create their own
activities based on their unique passions. For example one young woman created
a feminist group to help herself and her peers learn about how to stay safe in
a big city and be empowered as a woman. Many members of my class, including
myself, attended her meetings and brought in our experiences and advice as
mentors.

Interacting with
the local community helped us to get an understanding of the place we were
working, and of the work of community organizers/activists. A big lesson from
the semester for me was how teachers are inherently revolutionaries, shaping
the minds and lives of the future. Despite all of our truly unique experiences
(too many to mention), I think one of the best parts of the semester was how
our teachers modeled the methods and theories that they taught. Borrowing from
the pedagogy and epistemologies of the MAS program, our teachers took the time
to get to know us and provided the space to know ourselves and each other. We
shared our life stories through creative narratives, and read and discussed
some of the many books that the Tucson Unified School District had banned along
with the MAS program. We discovered that in doing this we were validating the
experiences of oppressed people and realizing how those stories are necessary
to understanding the reality of our current and past world.

In all of the
courses I briefly described, my world view was changed. The teachers have
become my mentors and friends. My perspective on life was widened, sometimes
with harsh realities, but always with a strong sense of hope. The courses fed
my awareness, experience, and motivation in ways that have inspired me to keep
working in these important fields and to always keep learning.

Monday, October 21, 2013

The Aztec Hopi Run

An
amazing event has taken place partially in Arizona, passing by Prescott in a
powerful wave of ancient prophesy fulfillment. The Aztec Hopi Run was a
ceremony that consisted of people from the Aztec lands in southern Mexico and
the local Hopi running over 1,800 miles to bring sacred water from the north to
the south and sacred fire from the south to the north. The Hopi people carried
water from their springs, representing the life force energy and the need to
respect and protect water in our world. The Aztec response of carrying fire
from the south was to balance the dualistic natures of both elements. This
ceremony was on the whole to bring about the Age of the Eagle or Condor, an age
when humanity remembered its intricate ties to the earth and each other.

The
carrying of the water and fire in small sacred vessels was an epic site. As the
runners from the different tribes crossed geographical places of power, there
were more ceremonies held in the honoring of the coming together of these
elements. It must be acknowledged, the beauty of two diverse cultures coming
together to honor the energetic forces of the world and one another.

The
support of the people of Prescott for these runners consisted of food, places
to sleep and enthusiasm. So cool to see this community support this beautiful
ceremony. Speaks a lot to the values of the college, too, the bringing together
of so many cultures for the greater good.

Pictures
of this run can be seen on facebook under Hopi and Aztec Run.Cheers! - Brittany Davis

There is a new
restaurant that has opened that is almost fully staffed by Prescott College
students. Located right next to campus, the Good Good serves up delicious fancy
grilled cheese and soup feasts. Students are getting a good look at how local
businesses start up and hold space for bigger picture consciousness in the
world today. One of the main ways the Good Good exemplifies this is through the
beautiful Huichol art exhibited there.

Drawing in a very powerful art form, the Good Good
is sharing dynamic holistic world views of this culture, shared through an
amazing Huichol artist...

These intricate pieces are opening minds to ancient patterns
of knowing among people very in touch with their worlds. Many Huichol pieces
are created from dreams that these people have, and they are all connected to
very powerful songs that the Huichol sing to help cultivate the mixing of
beautiful colors in iconography of energetic forces that shape our world. What
a beautiful thing, inspiring the students who walk in to fill themselves up not
only on food but on artistic expression. Yum! - Brittany Davis

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Autumn changes in the High Desert

Prescott boasts a pretty wonderful phenomena in the
autumn. Though the town is surrounded by evergreens in the National
Forest, there is much color change grandeur to be found as well. The
autumn's here are glorious, filled with such a spectrum as to make the
eyes wide. The autumn's here are still pretty warm, keeping the desert
feel, but since it is the high desert we get a share of some nice good
autumn flow in the breezes that blow through.

Just a little further south there is a wonderful
change in the Sonoran Desert too. Prickly pears have their fruit all
over, and Prescott's own pricklies are being harvested and enjoyed all
over. The colors, again are striking.

Looking closer at the changes in the leaves, it is amazing to see the minuscule details behind the transformation...

...like a lot of the change that happens within people this time of year
too. Classes get into full swing for the semester session, and all the
little rivulets of change become more and more apparent as students fill
up on knowledge. Come the change, I say, come the change! - Brittany Davis

Links We Love

Matt Seats

Competence: Wilderness Leadership (Adventure Education)Breadth: Environmental Studies (Land Management Policy)Favorite Place: I really enjoy Seattle and the Pacific Northwest, but Rum Point in Grand Cayman and the jungles and cloud forests in the Chiriqui region of Panama are pretty amazing too!On My Days Off I Like To: Rock climb, write, bike, hike, kayak and otherwise spend time outdoors.After I Graduate: I hope to split my time between teaching/instructing in the field, working on land management policy research and issues at the Bureau of Land Management (or other land management agency), and guiding international expeditions.

Amanda August

Competence: Human Development

Breadth: Cultural and Regional Studies; Adventure Education

My Favorite Place: Recently I traveled to Seattle and Rainier Nat'l Park and absolutely loved it. I also worked in the Sierra Nevadas last year and can't wait to get back this coming summer and explore more!

On My Days Off I Like To: Hiking/Climbing/Cycling, Check out what's new at the Picture Show, Tinker with projects, Letterboxing, Traveling with friends.

After I Graduate: Continue on to get my Masters, working in Non Profits serving under served Youth, invoking systemic change while promoting experiential education as a basic academic necessity. Canoe the Yukon. Travel South America. Open a brewery. You know, do it all.

Hannah Jean Marshall

Competence: A double competence in Wilderness Leadership with an emphasis in Gender studies, and The Political Economy and Social Justice Favorite place: Where ever I find my adventureOn My Saturdays Off I Like To: See what the day brings...

After I Graduate: I will be a rock star

Ruby Teegarden

Competence: Environmental PolicyBreadth: Music EducationFavorite Place: San Francisco/BerkeleyOn my Saturdays off I like to Read, be in the sun, cook yummy foodAfter I graduate I plan on making our food systems more sustainable, among other things.